Bow straightening apparatus



Aug. 12, 1958 N. E. WOODWARD Bow STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 29, 1953 v 1220923202 Nelson/E ufiodlvavcl,

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United States Patent 2,846,751 BOW STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS Nelson E. Woodward, Taunton, Mass.

Application June 29, 1953, Serial No. 364,573

1 6 Claims. (CI. 26-63) This invention relates to apparatus for use in straightening bows from cloth as it is being wound on a reel.

In various processes, cloth is gripped by its selvages and advanced along a path. During such processes, the

weft tends to become bowed from a normal right angular relationship with the warp due to the fact that the central portion of the cloth, not being positively engaged, tends to lag. Such bows are always objectionable and are particularly so with such patterned goods as checks. While these bows may develop in any analogous operation, the problem may best be discussed with reference to tenters which may develop trailing bows in the cloth or the bows may have been created in prior processes and, in that event, the bows may be leading ones when the cloth is fed through the tenter.

The problem has been recognized for many years and among the approaches to its solution was that of providing' a roll which engaged the cloth leaving the tenter and which could be changed from a cylinder to a concave or convex form to correct, respectively, leading and trailing bows. That proposal did not prove effective due to its construction and due to the fact that it was not positively driven in predetermined relation to the rate of travel of the cloth through the tenter, and it is the general objective of this invention to provide efficient apparatus of that type to enable the bowing of cloth to be controlled easily and accurately.

In accordance with the invention, a roll is provided that is capable of being expanded or contracted between predetermined concave and convex forms, preferably by bowing the wall structure inwardly and outwardly relative to the heads. This roll is disposed transversely of the path of the cloth and, is preferably driven positively in predetermined timed relationship to the flow of the cloth through the machine, usually a tenter, and also located above the tenter and adjacent its outfeed end with the cloth in contact with the major portion of the periphery of the roll.

While the expansion and contraction of the roll may be effected in various ways and may be either automatically or manually controlled, it is an essential feature of the invention that the changes in the shape of the roll can be made while the roll is rotating. For that reason, themeans by which the changes of roll contour are efiected include a part rotatable with the roll and an external control with reference to which that part is rotatable.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a view of a bow straightening roll in accordance with the invention as seen from its driven end illustrating somewhat schematically its relation to the tenter and the wind-up reel;

Fig. 2 is a partly sectioned elevational view of the roll and the means whereby its contour is varied;

Fig. 3 is a section along the indicated line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are schematic views illustrating the roll as adjusted to correct trailing bows and leading bows, respectively.

In Fig. 1, there is indicated a tenter 10 by which the cloth 11 is fed to the Wind-up reel 12 with its operation being usually attended by the distortion of the weft to form trailing bows, indicated at 13 in Fig. 4, or the cloth may have, as a result of a prior operation, such bows presented as leading bows, indicated at 14 in Fig. 5, in the tenter due to the unwinding and consequent reversal of the cloth when fed through the tenter. As tenters are well known, the tenter 10 is not shown or described in detail.

In accordance with the invention, the cloth 11, in passing from the tenter 10 to the wind-up reel 12, is engaged by a bow straightening roll, generally indicated at 15, and shown as disposed transversely of and above the path of the cloth 11 as it passes through the tenter 10 to the wind-up reel 12. The path of the cloth, between the tenter 10. and the wind-up reel 12, is preferably upwardly-over the roll 16, downwardly under and around the bow straightening roll 15, over the roll 17, downwardly under the roll 18, and thence over the roll 19 to the wind-up reel 12. By this arrangement, the cloth engages with approximately of the periphery of the roll 15.

The bow straightening roll 15 may conveniently comprise identical heads 20 interconnected by slats 21, whose outer surfaces are transversely rounded and rough-surfaced to ensure suitable traction. The slats may be formed from any flexible stock and are shown as bolted to the annular flange 22 with which each head is provided. Each head is also formed with a hub 23 secured to a tubular shaft 24 journaled in bearings 25, one end of said tubular shaft extending through one of the bearings to enable a pulley 26 to be locked thereon. One of the bearings 25 is mounted on a support 27 and the other bearing 25 is mounted on a support 28 (see Fig. 2).

A rod 29 extends freely into the shaft 24 for axial movement relative thereto and is shown as having one of its ends exposed and its other end located approximately in the central portion of the roll 15 where the shaft 24 is provided with axially disposed and transversely alined slots 30 through which extends the pin 31 connecting the external sleeve 32, which is slidable on the shaft 24, to the rod 29 so that it moves with the rod 29 when the latter is moved in an axial direction. I

The sleeve 32 has a plurality of radially disposed blades 33, one for each slat 21, and each blade is provided with a slot 34 which is inclined towards the roll axis. Secured to the inner surface of each slat 21 is a radially disposed yoke 35 which receives a corresponding one of the blades 33 and has a transversely disposed pin 36 entrant of the slot 34 of that blade. By these or equivalent means, axial movement of the rod 29 in one direction from a predetermined position, in which the roll 15 is cylindrical, is effective to draws the slats 21 inwardly thus to impart to the roll 15 a concave form while axial movement of the rod 29 in the other direction relative to that position, forces the slats 21 outwardly to render the roll 15 convex.

While the rod 29' may be variously actuated, it is shown as having a journal 37 on its outer end which is confined in a thrust bearing 38 carried by the screw 39. The screw 39 extends freely through a mount 40 on the support 27 but is held against rotation relative thereby by the key 41. The screw 39 is moved axially by turning the hand wheel 42 in one direction or the other, the hub 43 of said hand wheel being threaded on the screw 39 but held against axial movement by the mount 40.

The thrust bearing 38 is shown as having a pointer 44 disposed to transverse the scale 45 whose reading is located to indicate the position of the pointer 44 when the roll 15 is approximately cylindrical and whose plus and minus readings indicate the extent to which the roll 15 has been rendered convex and concave, respectively.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the contour of the roll 15 may be quickly and easily varied at any time. While such variations may be efiected automatically, electronically for example, manual control has proved to be satisfactory since the bow straightening apparatus is conveniently accessible to those attending the wind-up reels and constantly maintaining the cloth under inspection.

In order to ensure bow straightening, the roll 15 is positively driven in predetermined relation to the travel of the cloth through the tenter and for that reason the tenter is shown as having a power take-01f shaft 46 (see Fig. 1) provided with a pulley 47 connected to the pulley 48 on the counter shaft 49 by a belt Bil. A variable change speed device is indicated at 51 having a fixed speed shaft 52 .and a variable speed shaft 53 provided with pulleys 54 and 55, respectively. Pulley 54 is con nected to a pulley 56 on the counter shaft 49 by a belt 57 while pulley 55 is connected to the pulley 26 as by a belt 58.

The variable speed device 51 may be of any type that enables the speed of the roll to be adjusted without interrupting its operation for the speed at which it should be driven is dependent on various factors so that adjustments are made until the bows are eliminated. The variable speed device 51 may, of course, be driven by means other than the tenterv In operation and assuming no bows to be present in the cloth 11, the roll 15 is cylindrical. If trailing bows are noted by the attendants, the wheel 42 is turned to make the roll 15 convex thereby accelerating the central portion of the cloth due to the greater peripheral speed of the central part of the convex roll relative to the end parts thereof. Should leading bows be present in the cloth 11, the hand wheel 42 is turned until the roll 15 is concave in form thus reducing the peripheral speed of the central portion of the roll and consequently the speed of the central portion of the cloth. These adjustments may be quickly and easily effected without interrupting the flow of the cloth to the wind-up reel 12 and are made until the existing bows are eliminated. If necessary, the variable roll drive may be adjusted to further assist bow connection and to compensate for slippage.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A roll for use in straightening bows in cloth, said roll comprising a pair of heads, a tubular shaft supporting said heads and having axially disposed and transversely alined slots intermediate said heads, a plurality of flexible slats interconnecting said heads, a rod slidable in said shaft with one end protruding therefrom, a sleeve slidably supported by said shaft between said heads and connected to said rod through said slots, said sleeve including a plurality of radially disposed first members, one for each slat, and each slat including a radially disposed second member connected to a corresponding one of said first members for movement in a radial direction when said sleeve is moved in an axial direction.

4 structure outwardly and inwardly relative to its position in which said roll is approximately cylindrical, said bowing means including an axially movable part and a connection between said wall structure and that part movable along a radial path in response to and in a direction dependent on the direction in which said axially movable part is moved, one end of said part being outside said roll, axially movable means to move said part in either direction and including a bearing in which said end is journaled, a pointer carried by said bearing, and a scale disposed to be traversed by said pointer.

3. A roll for use in straightening bows in cloth, said I roll comprising a pair of heads, axially disposed sup- 2. A roll for use in straightening bows in cloth, said roll comprising a pair of heads, axially disposed supporting means for said roll, flexible wall structure interconnecting said heads, means operable to bow said wall porting means for said roll, means to rotate said roll including a variable speed device, flexible wall structure interconnecting said heads, means operable to bow said wall structure outwardly and inwardly relative to its position in which said roll is approximately cylindrical, said bowing means including a first part rotatable with said roll and a second part with reference to which said first part is rotatable, and an actuating control connected to said second part.

4. A roll for use in straightening bows in cloth, said roll comprising a pair of heads, axially disposed supporting means for said roll, means to rotate said roll including a variable speed device, flexible wall structure interconnecting said heads, means operable to bow said wall structure outwardly and inwardly relative to its position in which said roll is approximately cylindrical, said bowing means including an actuating control, said device and said control both being operable while said roll is rotating.

5. Apparatus for use in straightening bows in cloth advanced to a wind-up reel by a tenter or the like, said apparatus comprising a bow straightening roll including a pair of heads and flexible Wall structure interconnecting said heads, supporting structure rotatably supporting said roll adjacent the outfeed end of the tenter with its axis transversely of and above the path of the cloth moving through said tenter for engagement with the cloth before it is wound on said wind-up reel, cloth guiding rolls located with respect to said straightening roll to provide a path for the cloth downwardly and rearwardly under and upwardly and forwardly around said straightening roll, and means to expand said wall structure from a predetermined concave shape to a pre* determined convex shape.

6. Apparatus for use in straightening bows in cloth advanced to a wind-up reel by a tenter or the like, said apparatus comprising a bow straightening roll including a pair of heads and flexible wall structure interconnecting said heads, supporting structure rotatably supporting said roll adjacent the outfeed end of the tenter with its axis transversely of and above the path of the cloth moving through said tenter for engagement with the cloth before it is Wound on said wind-up reel, means to expand said wall structure from a predetermined concave shape to a predetermined convex shape, and means including a variable speed device to rotate said roll, both of said means being operable while said roll is rotating.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 

